20 January 2023 , 09:36
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Bare-knuckle boxers Lorenzo Hunt and Mike Richman sparked a mass brawl at the press conference for their bare-knuckle boxing match in New Mexico last night.
The pair were taking part in the live press conference for the third iteration of Knucklemania, which is BKFC's marquee February event which takes place annually. And things got heated when Hunt slapped Richman during their face-off, causing the pair to grapple and ultimately drag others, including the promotion's president David Feldman, into a massive brawl.
Hunt and Richman are set to fight for the BKFC light-heavyweight title on February 17, but couldn't keep their hands to themselves as they let fly a month early at the launch event. Other fighters on stage were pushed back and tables were turned over as the pair got into it following an heated verbal exchange.
In an Instagram post after the fact, Hunt didn't apologise for his actions, writing: "He who guards his mouth guards his life… that s*** is biblical... Don’t threaten to bite a lion and don’t threaten to slap a juggernaut." Meanwhile Richman didn't make a particular comment, but retweeted clips that were shared of the exchange.
The pair had been having a relatively standard, if heated, verbal exchange prior to getting physical, with Hunt initiating by standing up and removing his overalls to show off his physique. "We are two different people, two different weight classes, two different monsters," he explained. "He should have stayed [at light-heavyweight]."
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Immediately after the fact, the press conference continued, with boss Feldman saying: "It's not something that we want, we don't want these dynamics up here. But at the end of the day you have two guys that are personalities that think they're the baddest man on the planet and don't really like each other.
"Sometimes it's just that this type of thing is going to happen and unfortunately it happened here. But in the same respect it's just a little preview of what you're going to see on February 17 here in the centre of that ring and you are going to find out who the best 185lb bare-knuckle fighter on the planet is here. I think now everybody's hyped up about this thing."